Drawing from the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) model, sheep farmers across the State are being organised in the cooperative sector to open mutton markets in each district headquarters in the next 10 months.
Disclosing this to The Hindu, chairman of the Karnataka State Sheep and Wool Development Corporation, Pandith Rao Chidri, said sheep and wool producers cooperative societies, which had already been formed in the State, will be further strengthened in the coming days so that they will be able to sell their own brand of mutton at these exclusive markets.
“We will have the societies of each district brought under the umbrella of a district union, which in turn will fall under the purview of a State-level federation,” he said.
The setting up of mutton markets will be taken up on priority to prevent the continued exploitation of the sheep farmers by meat merchants. “While the meat merchants make Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 on each animal in a single day, the farmers receive barely Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 6,000 after rearing the animals for a whole year. This is because the farmers are exploited by the middlemen and the meat merchants. So, we want to bring the market to the sheep rearers,” he said.
In most of the village markets, sheep are purchased by the middlemen or merchants, who estimate the weight of the animal by physically lifting it. “Even if there is a variance of 3 to 4 kg, which is inevitable, the farmer loses more than Rs. 1,000,” Mr. Chidri said, adding that the corporation will provide live weighing machines to societies to prevent their exploitation.
Also, Mr. Chidri said the mutton markets will help ensure quality of the meat sold. “Now, the customers will not know whether they are buying the meat of a diseased or a dead animal. At our mutton markets, a veterinarian will certify each slaughtered animal,” he said.
The slaughter of animals and sale of meat will be carried out in an organised and hygienic manner. As a pre-cursor to setting up the markets, the government will strengthen the societies by giving them an aid of Rs. 5 lakh, he said.
